Between this entry and the last a war took place. The great "Iraqi Open". The last time I looked, it was 40 love, USA.
It took a lot of brutality to end brutality. Saddam Hussein was a man of big appetites. Greedy and Hedonistic. His extended family and "evil" sons were just an artistic expression of all that is selfish, violent, cruel and nasty. Was it wrong to end such a long abhorrent reign with such a frightening stranglehold on its people ?
There are many who disagree with me.
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As told in the last entry, there was an overwhelming "urgency" to find instant employment. Lucky for me I was fortunate to acquire a part-time position with the well known Australian heating and cooling company, Brivis. For five hours a day, from 2:30pm to 7:30pm, I take calls from teeth-chattering old ladies from North Balwyn, East Brighton, Moonee Ponds, Ascotvale, Bentleigh, Malvern, Coldstream and the always shivering national capital Canberra and its sattelites. Enquiries range from the difficulties of lighting a pilot flame, to the programming of the new fangled "Networkers" (high tech timing and climate controllers). I have put my former experience to use with the assistance of field technicians in programming the "Zones" (climate controlled sections of an environment that can be left on or off).
The huge factory is situated in the Melbourne industrial estate of Braeside. A long slim stretch of road called White Street leaves the Nepean Highway from the left just before you hit Mordialloc. Firstly you pass through a shabby section of forties weatherboards and semi "moderne" anemic egg brick veneers, then you pass a moderate sized electricity substation, which just opposite are ominous "for sale" signs on not just one, but two run-down looking abodes. A month has passed and I have yet to see the green "sold" sticker. Continuing on I then cross Boundary road, for indeed this is a boundary. It is the start of the Braeside Industrial Estate. Looking like a post-apocalyptic utopia, the estate feels like a breeding environment for the next generation, which may be taking place inside the huge garden shed-like factories.
Before I start work, I like to walk through the factory from the rear to the front offices. On my way I observe the seething, clanging and sparking of heavy metal machinery. Ground shaking five ton presses thump galvanized sheet metal into ducted heating units. It's like being inside the belly of a dragon. The workers are a mix of multiethnic, the deformed, mentally handicapped and the odd ex-con. I observe this all with great interest. This environment being a far cry from my former employment though a flashback to my first career as a fitter and turner in the mid-seventies. I have noticed the massive changes and improvements in occupational health and safety, which are a far cry from the terrifying and hazardous environment I found myself in as a fifteen year-old.
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Apart from my five hours at Braeside, I now have this routine of waking, reading, walking, writing. On my daily walks I find myself most days at the Brighton foreshore. I always walk to the end of this.........
click to enlarge
I stand and marvel at the immense and moving volume before me, becoming hypnotised by its calm or lulled by the choppy fluidity.
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As I now find myself on the verge of another uncertain period in my life, I realise that this has been planned with my knowing, so the uncertainty has arrived and in no uncertain terms !
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remember
be alarmed
but
not alert
Reading : "My life as me" Barry Humphries
DVD's : Mulholland Drive, Insomnia,To Kill a Mockingbird, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, The Birds,
(Boris Karloff triple cd) The Raven, The Mummy, The Black Cat.
Listening to: Diana Krall, Verve Unmixed, Moby, The Hours, The The, Bachelor Pad (Lounge).
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